When you think of cloud-based communication systems, it’s tempting to just imagine large office spaces with dozens or even hundreds of employees and multiple locations. But the reality is that even smaller businesses like dental practices can benefit from solutions involving VoIP phones. For these highly-skilled professionals, an older dentist phone system can cost time, money, and patient satisfaction. Find out how a VoIP communication system can help you gain and retain your patients.
What Is VoIP?
Voice over Internet Protocol phones (or VoIP phones) are cloud-based communications systems that use a broadband connection rather than a landline to receive and send calls. A key component of this is the fact that VoIP phones are just software and can be used by a wide variety of hardware options including computers, smartphones, and traditional-style desk phones. The speed and dependability of an internet connection are reasons enough to make the switch, but here are four ways that upgrading to a VoIP phone can provide specific benefits to your dental practice.
Enhanced Patient Experience
One of the primary benefits of a VoIP dentist phone system is the impact it has on patient communications. This goes both ways—patients can more easily contact your office and you can reach your patients more effectively as well. The speed and dependability we talked about earlier really come into play with patient communication.
Whether your patients need to schedule an appointment, inquire about the services you offer, or just ask questions about your office and practice, it’s essential to make sure those calls are being answered quickly and reliably. With VoIP dentist phone systems, their software-based platform means you and your staff can take those calls from anywhere, not just from behind the front desk.
You can also take advantage of more personalized interaction solutions. Features such as call forwarding and transcriptions for voicemails that can be sent to your email mean you never miss a message, and patients can get more personalized responses to their inquiries. All this serves to build trust and credibility between your dental practice and your existing as well as your prospective patients.
Streamlined Internal Collaboration
The benefits aren’t just limited to external messaging with patients, it can also be used to make communication with your staff much more effective. It doesn’t matter if they’re in the office, working from home, or communicating from one office location to the next, VoIP dentist phone systems bring all of your channels under one umbrella for better tracking and coordination between staff members.
All this also serves to help enhance the patient experience. When your employees are collaborating well, your patients see a coherent team that cares for their needs whenever they walk through your doors. It can be aggravating to have to reiterate your situation or appointment schedule to several employees. But if your staff is all on the same page using a unified communication system, they’ll never miss a beat.
Cost-Efficiency and Scalability
When your phones are all just software, it can make your communication system significantly more affordable. Without the need for specific hardware like desk phones and landlines, your VoIP dentist phone system can be utilized using equipment you already have, such as smartphones. This leads to lower upfront and maintenance costs when lined up against more traditional phone systems.
Plus, if you’re opening a new office, your VoIP system goes with you. Rather than having to set up another communication system at the new location, you can simply expand your lines through a cloud-based phone option. This flexibility allows you to scale and grow your business without the limits of hardware and installation.
When you have multiple locations, you can serve more patients. Being able to schedule an appointment across several offices can be all the difference for patients who move across town or would find a different location more convenient.
Enhanced Security and Compliance
In the digital era, keeping your data safe should be a top priority. Patient information is closely guarded by law and data breaches can conflict with HIPAA standards. Of course, it’s important to have a solid set of internal security protocols to avoid this, but upgrading to a VoIP dentist phone system goes a long way toward securing your data and your patient’s information.
These cloud systems can incorporate things like encryption to make sure that patient data is secure when being transferred. Plus, using features such as call recording can help you and your staff maintain quality assurance and allow you to use instances for training new employees. Not to mention that keeping good records is essential for compliance and legal reasons.
How Rhode Island Telephone Can Help
Communication lies at the heart of all business operations. Missing calls, having messages deleted, and not having all your staff on the same page can lead to lost potential patients, inaccurate records, and a disjointed team—all affecting your bottom line.
Here at Rhode Island Telephone, we provide affordable VoIP phone solutions for businesses of all sizes. If you’re looking to upgrade your dentist phone system, you can take advantage of our complete package which includes consultation, installation, and support for a completely cloud-based phone solution. Fill out this form to get a free quote today!
